Tag Archives: History Teachers

Educator Jack Reavis makes bid for seat in Oklahoma State House of Representatives

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Jack Reavis

Veteran educator Jack Reavis makes a bid for a seat in the Oklahoma State House of Representatives.

In this year’s mid-term elections, there are many educators running hotly contested political races. One of them is teacher Jack Reavis, who is bidding for a seat in the Oklahoma State House of Representatives. Last June, the veteran educator won the Democratic primary for District 14. In the November election, Jack will face Republican candidate Chris Sneed.

Jack has dedicated the last 24 years of his life working as a high school history teacher for Muskogee High School in Muskogee, Oklahoma. He plans to use his skills as an educator to succeed in the House, if elected. “In my life, learning the art of listening has been essential to building relationships built on mutual trust,” declares Jack. Furthermore, he asserts, “We can make our government work, but we have to participate in the process.”

Jack holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Studies Education and a Master of Arts degree in American Studies. He earned both from Northeastern State University located in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.

Jack is particularly interested in policies that affect public education and health care. He wants to see a return of the seven hospitals and numerous health care facilities that have left his part of the state in the last two years. “If you’re a single mother in northeastern Oklahoma, you shouldn’t have to take a full day off work and lose that day’s pay, just to take a sick child with an ear-ache to a clinic,” Jack says. “If we truly are pro-life—and I am pro-life, not just pro-birth—you need to support the programs that support life after a child is born, including public education and healthcare.”

To learn more about Jack Reavis, visit his website at www.reavisforhouse.com.

Teacher Jeanie Smith makes bid for seat in Kentucky State Senate

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Jeanie Smith

Jeanie Smith, a junior high school social studies teacher, runs for office in the Kentucky State Senate.

This election year there are numerous opportunities for civic-minded educators to work towards important social changes. One educator hoping to do this is Jeanie Smith, a junior high school social studies teacher who is running for office in the Kentucky State Senate.

Jeanie is a graduate of Western Kentucky University, where she earned her degree in history and social studies in 2005. As a young woman, she and her husband served as missionaries in Australia, where she developed an outreach program for the needy, managed a food bank, and worked with her church to foster a greater sense of community. She also created a Sunday School curriculum for children there.

When Jeanie and her husband returned to the United States, the couple settled in Bowling Green, Kentucky, where she began working with a local farmers’ market to establish a program that would help low-income families have access to fresh locally grown foods.

Jeanie has been in the classroom for five years. She currently teaches 7th grade history courses at Drakes Creek Middle School in the Warren County Pubic School System located in Bowling Green.

This indefatigable educator is seeking election to Kentucky’s 32nd District. Her goal is to unseat the Republican incumbent, Mike Wilson. “Teachers see the realities of our communities,” the candidate asserts. “We put food in backpacks to send home on weekends. I have students with parents in jail, students with parents working two jobs. And I realized we can do better. We need lawmakers who understand the middle class and those striving for middle class. Who better to do that than a teacher?”

If elected, Jeanie says she will advocate for increased pay for the hardworking families of Kentucky and create an improved tax system. She is opposed to a new charter school law and a state pension system that’s grossly underfunded.

To learn more about this amazing educator, see her campaign website at Jeanie Smith for Kentucky.com.

Jahana Hayes: 2016 Teacher of the Year and candidate for Congress

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Jahanna Hayes

Government and history teacher Jahana Hayes runs for Congressional office as the representative for Connecticut’s 5th District.

In this year’s hotly-contested mid-term elections a record number of impressive teachers are running for public office. One of these is Connecticut’s Jahana Hayes, who was honored in 2016 as the National Teacher of the Year by President Barack Obama. Jahana is running for a seat in the US House of Representatives in her quest to serve Connecticut’s 5th District. If elected in November, Jahana will become the first African American woman of either party to represent part of New England in Congress.

Jahana was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, on March 8, 1973. Because her mother was a drug addict, Jahana was raised by her grandmother, and they lived in public housing projects in Waterbury. Even though Jahana became a teen mother at age 17, she overcame her obstacles and worked hard in school. She earned her Bachelor’s degree at Southern Connecticut State and her Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Saint Joseph. In 2014, she earned her Sixth-Year Certificate from the University of Bridgeport School of Education.

Jahana accepted her first teaching position at Southbury Training School in Connecticut. Later she relocated to John F. Kennedy High School in Waterbury, where she taught government and history. In addition, she served as the chairperson of the Kennedy SOAR Review Board, a program for gifted students.

In 2015, Jahana garnered the John F. Kennedy Teacher of the Year award, and then the Waterbury School District Educator of the Year honors. In 2016, the teacher with the dazzling smile was named Connecticut’s Teacher of the Year. The same year President Obama recognized her as the National Teacher of the Year.

Below, view a 4 1/2-minute YouTube video of Jahana taken when she appeared at the 2018 Global Citizen Festival in New York.

 

Stephen Bowen, the teacher who served as a Maine State Representative

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Stephen Bowen

Stephen Bowen, the teacher who served in the Maine State House of Representatives

Many times excellent educators become successful politicians. This is true of Stephen Bowen, a social studies teacher from Maine who also served in his state’s House of Representatives.

Stephen was born in Portland, Maine, on June 6, 1969. Stephen earned his Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Drew University in Madison, New Jersey, in 1991. He earned his Master’s degree in Education from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, in 1998.

After earning his degrees, Stephen taught middle school and high school social studies for ten years. He inaugurated his career as a teacher in Fairfax County Public Schools, where he taught from 1997 to 2000. He then returned to Maine, where he taught in Camden from 2000 to 2006. During his tenure there, Stephen was elected to the Maine House of Representatives on the Republican ticket. There he represented the communities of Camden and Rockport from 2002 to 2006.

After completing his term of office, Stephen became the director for the Center for Education Excellence at the Maine Heritage Policy Center. In that position, he wrote reports on education policy, school finance, state spending and debt, government transparency, and welfare reform. In 2011, Stephen was appointed Commissioner of Education by Maine Governor Paul LePage. In that position, the former teacher advised the governor on matters related to education, government reform, budget, and marine resources policy. Two years later, Stephen accepted a position with the National Council of chief State School Officers.

Olympic Medalist and junior high school teacher Tim Morehouse

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Tim Morehouse

Olympic Silver Medalist and junior high school teacher Tim Morehouse.

While researching remarkable educators, I often come across examples of teachers who have made their mark as accomplished athletes. I also read about many teachers who support their sport in the community. Both are true of fencer Tim Morehouse, an Olympic Silver Medalist who founded a program for promoting fencing in schools around the country.

Tim was born July 29, 1978, in New York City, New York. His grandmother was a Jew who immigrated to the United States after her escape from Nazi Germany in the 1930s. Tim was raised in the Bronx and attended Riverdale Country School in New York City. While in high school, he played baseball and cross country. He was also a part of his school’s fencing team. He served as the team’s captain, and was named the squad’s Most Valuable Player during his junior and senior years.

Once he graduated from high school, Tim attended Brandeis University, a private institution located in Waltham, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. While there, he was ranked in the top ten of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division 1 Men’s Sabre, and he was named an NCAA All American for three of his four years.

He earned his Bachelor’s degree in History in 2000. Following his college graduation, he earned a Master’d degree in Teaching from Pace University, a private university located in Manhattan in 2003. After earning his degrees, Tim completed a two-year stint for Teach for America. He taught underprivileged seventh graders at Intermediate School 90 in Washington Heights, Manhattan. During this time, the talented athlete also coached the fencing team at his alma mater, Riverdale Country School.

He also continued his amateur career as a fencer. He was ranked number one in the United States from 2008 to 2011. He earned US National Championships in 2010 and 2011. Most impressively, he attended the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing as a member of the US Fencing team. There he earned a Silver Medal in the Men’s sabre event.

Today, the former classroom teacher supports a variety of non-profit organizations. He also serves as an Athlete Ambassador for Right to Play, an organization working with volunteers and partners to use sport and play to enhance child development in disadvantaged neighborhoods. In 2011, the former classroom teacher founded the Fencing in the Schools Foundation, a non-profit that offers fencing to underprivileged kids throughout the country.

Tim Morehouse: a true chalkboard champion.